Beware Of Flatbed Tow Trucks: Damaged Mach-E Battery Costs $28,000

A Ford Mustang Mach-E owner claims $28,000 in battery pack damage from improper towing service.

By: Mark Kane

Jan 20, 2022 at 9:04am ET

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Unfortunate and very costly damage to a Ford Mustang Mach-E battery from a tow truck was recently reported on the MachEforum.com.

While it's just an example case, it's worth noting so that we all can avoid similar problems. Electric cars are still new and relatively rare, which means that there are plenty of inexperienced technicians.

In this story, a Mach-E driver on the route from Canada to Florida was forced to stop the car due to a "Pull over Safely" error message and lack of power. Through Ford Road Side Assistance, a tow truck was dispatched to take the car to the nearest Ford dealer.

Unfortunately - according to the info - improper service resulted in damage to the battery pack - specifically, the battery rail. There could also be other issues, as the owner wrote: "Seems the batteries are leaking," which suggests a damaged cooling system. The forum post does not explain what caused the original "Pull over Safely" error message.

According to the owner, the car was hooked up incorrectly when attempting to get the vehicle onto the flatbed. See some additional images here. The result is a $28,000 bill that no one wants to take responsibility for:

"On the recommendation of Ford Customer Care, they arranged to have the car transported down to a dealership in Florida. The tow company hooked into the battery rail and damaged the batteries. $28,000 repair bill."

There are winch points to use to get the car onto a trailer. Apparently, the tow truck driver did not use these points and instead hooked into the battery's front frame rail.

In addition, the manual points out how to tow the car and how to lift the car up. There are special areas strengthened specifically for the purpose.

What do you think?

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In the case of lifting the car up, if the lift isn't positioned correctly, it could come into contact with the battery guardrail, and then the battery might be damaged.

Most of this is actually similar to most conventional cars, although, in the case of EVs, the battery pack is the single most expensive part, which means that it's important to double-check whether technicians know what they are doing.